Belinda Daniel

I attribute my success to having a strong drive to never stay complacent and always wanting to learn more. Once I conquered and learned a role, I wanted to learn more, which is what drove me to go back to school at 39 years old to attain my college education. That personal growth and knowledge has been a tremendous source of pride and fulfillment in my life. Having been able to achieve an area director role after beginning as a hostess when I started my career was one of the greatest goals I could have ever achieved, and I'm extremely proud of all the work I've put in. I've also been blessed with incredible mentors like Jim Campbell, my general manager, who truly taught me the ropes and provided me with a foundation to succeed. He promised he would teach me everything I needed to know, and he stuck to his word, going on sales calls with me and attending events with me. I also had Stephanie Dunphy, my revenue director, who helped me understand the bigger picture of what I was doing and how to pivot when things weren't working out the right way. And as my career grew into a director role, Karen Heath, who was the VP with Quarry Hospitality, made a great impact in my life. I'm very grateful for those three professionals truly impacting my career and having the patience and understanding to recognize that everyone learns differently. Now I want to pay it forward by providing other young women the opportunity to have that support and mentorship when building their career from the ground up, just as Jim saw potential in me that day when I put the plate of food in front of him, which led to 16 years and a phenomenal career.

The best career advice I ever received came from my general manager Jim Campbell, who promised me, 'I will teach you everything you need to know.' When I told him I didn't know a single thing about hospitality, he didn't just give me advice, he showed me through action. He went out on sales calls with me, attended events with me, and literally did exactly what he promised. He showed me everything I needed to know about the hotel world. Even years later, when I became a director for the first time, I called him and said, 'Jim, I don't know what I'm supposed to look at in a P&L, and I don't know what I should know and not know,' and he would walk me through all of that. My revenue director Stephanie Dunphy also taught me something invaluable: she helped me understand not just the mechanics of what I was doing, but the bigger picture of why I was doing it and how to pivot when things weren't working out the right way. So I wasn't robotic, I knew the bigger picture. And Karen Heath, the VP with Quarry Hospitality, showed me the importance of understanding that everyone learns differently. These three professionals had the patience and understanding to recognize that, and being able to attain different levels of advice and support from them has been a phenomenal and tremendously impactful tool in building my success.

My advice for young women looking to enter this industry is simple: don't be afraid to ask questions. I've had quite a few people from the hospitality world that I don't even know follow me on LinkedIn and message me asking, 'Hey, how did you get to where you're at?' And I look to pay it forward, because whatever Jim saw in me that day when I put the plate of food in front of him led to 16 years and a phenomenal career. So don't be afraid to ask how to do something, or what's the best practice for this, or what would you suggest. Really hone in on people and their advice, because the path that you typically think it takes to get there is far from that, right? You don't have to go to college, you don't have to have certain things. What you really need is a strong drive to be successful and to not give up when you get beat down, because it's a difficult industry. It's really just reaching out and not being afraid to just ask, or say, 'Hey, I've not been successful in this, where do you see that I could improve?' I've hired people as sales coordinators entering into the hospitality world, and I can see certain things in them. They'll say, 'Yeah, I'm absolutely not going to be a director,' and I'm like, 'You will be.' I've gotten people from the bottom to a director role. Those are the aha moments, right? Seeing potential in people and feeding into them and giving them that encouragement that, yeah, you can get to this level, you just don't know it just yet. But I'm gonna help you know it.

Belinda will be jumping in to add more detail regarding her career path and what has inspired and motivated her throughout her journey, any detail she would like to add pertaining to the people who have mentored and inspired her and impacted her career, what brings her joy in life including her hobbies and interests outside from work, how she would like to connect with other incredible women in our network and inspire our young women readers, any accomplishments or accolades you would like for us to highlight and any additional details that we can spotlight regarding her goals for the future and what she foresees as the next chapter of her career is written.

Integrity is really big for me, and loyalty, although I feel that many people have lost that. I think loyalty is a lost art, and if there was more of it in the world, just bringing that to your work ethic and knowing that your character would make for a better community and environment. People don't buy a hotel, they're buying from me as a person, and my character, and what I stand for. So I pride myself on being someone that can be trusted, be loyal, and maintains integrity in each and everything that I do and apply myself to. In my personal life, I'm a big advocate of learning and never stopping that growth. The more comfortable we get in knowing that we don't know everything, and being okay with not knowing everything, the faster we can focus on expanding our minds and being better every day. I always want to be better than I was yesterday, and that's really at the forefront of my passion: continuing to learn and continuing to grow and evolve. My family comes first in my life. I have four wonderfully successful and amazing children I'm so proud of, and my father is my go-to. I talk to him every day and he is really my biggest fan. I'm so grateful to have someone in my corner like my father, who has always shared his love and appreciation for me and continued to support me through any struggles professionally or personally in raising children. In my spare time, I enjoy staying active and love weekend trips, exploring different ways of life whether it's traveling and learning a new culture, or reading quite a bit to expand my own horizons.